towing horse trailer with Mazda6 2.3?

jkgray

My partner currently drives a 2007 Mazda6 2.3 Sport Hatch and wants to start towing a Horse trailer.

The trailer would probably be an Ifor Williams with an unladen weight of 920kg. The horse weighs 550 kg so the combined weight would be 1470kg.

The Mazda6's towing capacity is 1500kg. Is this too close for comfort? Would it put undue strain on the car?

If it is viable, then the best quote I have had for tow bar fitting is for a fixed conventional towbar, fully fitted with twin electrical socket or 13 pin socket with relays for fridge and battery charging, suitable for caravan towing fully fitted £249.88. Does this sound s decent price? Any other recommendations in the Liverpool area?

A dedicated wiring loom would be an additional £79.60. Is this worth it?

colino

If its within capacity, it is OK, but I've never got on with free revving petrols as restful tow cars. Much better with a low down torquey diesel for me.

pstuart

You are right in saying that you are too close for comfort, one of their newer estates (heavier) would just about be OK.

Use a site called 'whattowcar' to get an idea of what this car will pull (choose a caravan with a similar weight to your box and horse, say Hobby 540)

Had the same electrics as you describe on a Mondeo last winter, fitted on the drive for £200 cash.

The previous car (Vectra) had dedicated wiring fitted and this resulted in a visit to Vauxhall (extra £60) to have its computer recognise it-don't know about Mazda.

marlot

That wouldn't be my first choice of towcar fr a horse - its a bit on the light side, no 4 wheel drive (for getting out of muddy fields), and very close to the car's max tow limit.

The trailer would also likely weigh more than the unladen weight of the car - when did the proposed driver pass their test - If 1997 or later they may not be allowed to tow it anyway.

pstuart

marlot wrote: »

That wouldn't be my first choice of towcar fr a horse - its a bit on the light side, no 4 wheel drive (for getting out of muddy fields), and very close to the car's max tow limit.

The trailer would also likely weigh more than the unladen weight of the car - when did the proposed driver pass their test - If 1997 or later they may not be allowed to tow it anyway.

marlot is quite correct, after 1997 a licence pass gives you the right to tow up to a gross train weight of 3500kgs ( this is car and trailer combined) - so you are well within this.

BUT the trailer must not weigh more than the car and in this case it probably does.

Hammyman

jkgray wrote: »

My partner currently drives a 2007 Mazda6 2.3 Sport Hatch and wants to start towing a Horse trailer.

The trailer would probably be an Ifor Williams with an unladen weight of 920kg. The horse weighs 550 kg so the combined weight would be 1470kg.

Fairly irrelevant what the weight of the trailer with or without horse is TBH. It is the plated weight of the trailer that matters - the one on the plate that states what the maximum gross plated weight is. It is that which determines whether or not your car can tow it and whether your licence allows it, even when empty.

mikey72

pstuart wrote: »

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marlot is quite correct, after 1997 a licence pass gives you the right to tow up to a gross train weight of 3500kgs ( this is car and trailer combined) - so you are well within this.

BUT the trailer must not weigh more than the car and in this case it probably does.

Unlikely.
Gross weight of the car is around 2 tonnes, that means the maximum plated weight of the trailer can only be a maximum of 1.5 tonnes, which seems light for a horse box, unless it's a very small one.

hippey

Having towed & driven lots of different vehicles over the years, to be honest this combination sounds awful! And having towed horses a few years ago you must remember that it is very rare that the fields you end up parking in are not forgiving at the best of times let alone a car which is not designed for the use.

The weight is far to close for comfort, indeed in reality it will be over. I would look around for another vehicle to make your life that much easier!

I used to tow 2 horses with a Ford Ranger 2.5TD Double Cab Pick Up even with that it really felt it, I also have used a Land Rover Series 3 2.25 Diesel, Toyota HiLux Single Cab Pick Up. All of these were suited to the whole environment of the horse world! There is nothing more awful than getting stuck in a field!

gilbert_and_sullivan

A tandem Ifor will not be kind to the back end of a small car like that, forget caravans of similar weight a horse trailer is an unforgiving thing to tow with hard springs, it will not sway about like a caravan but it will put severe strain on the chassis of the car.

As Hippey say's quite correctly, even with a competent and tough tow vehicle you know you've got a horse trailer on the back, even on good roads the suspension shocks will be transmitted right through the tow car.

marlot

mikey72 wrote: »

Unlikely.
Gross weight of the car is around 2 tonnes, that means the maximum plated weight of the trailer can only be a maximum of 1.5 tonnes, which seems light for a horse box, unless it's a very small one.

As you say, its the maximum weight of the car and trailer which must be below 3.5 tonnes.

BUT that's not the rule I was talking about. Post 1997 licence holders also have to ensure that the maximum plated weight of the trailer is lower than the UNLADEN weight of the car. Unladen weight of a Mazda 6 is probably around 1400Kg.

Hintza

Model... Gross Weight ...Unladen Weight
HB506 .....2600kg ...........920kg

OP you will also have all the added clobber that you will need to take. What happens if you need to take a second horse?

Will the car need to a new oil cooler?

If you look on TowCar Info they suggest that the safe towing weight is 1250kg. (But they do err on the side of caution they rate a 110 Defender at 1750kg)


To give you our car:-

Jeep Cherokee 2.8 Ltd Auto:- max braked weight 3360kg and a towcar recommendation of 1750kg. We currently tow the same trailer as you with two ponies (total weight around 1500) and that is fine. I recently towed a 600kg trailer with 2 tonnes of fertiliser over about a 6 mile distance and although fine the car felt it.

Unless you are towing infrequently you may well live to regret this.